Welcome to Mammoth Adventure Stories.
The following are stories, adventures and experiences that were memorable, fun or adventerous that are shared by our friends, guests and Mammoth visitors! These great adventure stories can be about hiking, horsebackriding, fishing, skiing, snowboarding, snow mobiling, snow shoeing, Off roading or just your take on a particular event like the Bluesapalooza Festival of Beers. Perhaps you have a great photograph you want to share or a particular restaurant you enjoyed.We now have a forum for your comments on your experiences in Mammoth Lakes

If you have a story, adventure, experience or photo that was memorable and would like to share it with the us just send an email to info@mammothowners.com with your story or picture. All emails will be reviewed for contact and appropriateness as will pictures. By emailing your story or picture you are giving  www.mammothrentalbyowner.com (MRBO) a division of NOMADNESS Corporation permission to use your story or picture(s) on the internet.

Not everyone travels to Mammoth in groups of 25, but I am one person who co-leads a trip of high school students and chaperons to the area on a mountain biking trip during our school outdoor education week each fall.  Traveling with a group this size poses challenges, but I hope this recap will give you some ideas of what you can do in the area whether your group is 3-4 or larger like ours, there is plenty of fun stuff to do on and off your mountain bike!

The emphasis of our trip is mountain biking.  Here are my thoughts on some of the trails in the area.  Keep in mind that we pick trails to ride that are novice friendly, can handle a large group and take advantage of the scenery Mammoth Mountain has to offer! 

Probably my favorite ride of the trip is the Mountain View Trail.  It is a ride that includes both single track and wide dirt paths that meander through trees and beautiful meadows.  We started at the top of the trail near the Minaret Vista. For further adventure, you can continue all the way into town on more single track trails where speed and an easy slalom through trees makes it all worthwhile!

Another ride that I found to be fun and challenging was the 10 mile Inyo Craters Loop.  This was our first ride of the trip and tested our conditioning as well as ability to do the simple things changing gears, braking, spacing (large groups shouldn’t ride side-by-side on dirt trails!) and dealing with different types of riding surfaces, hard packed dirt to soft pumice (pretty much sand!).  The trail is a jeep trail, so it’s plenty wide for the novice rider.  Just watch out for the ATV’s!

Finally, if you want views for miles and miles and the chance to ride through the Aspens, then you must head to Virginia Lakes and ride the dirt road from the top down to the bottom where the road meets up with Highway 395.  One plus about this particular ride is it’s  pretty much all downhill and the only true uphill portion was aided by a strong tail wind!

While mountain biking was the primary focus of our trip, we also threw in some other activities.

About an hour outside of Mammoth is the Bodie State Historic Park.  If you’ve never been to a ghost town, this is one you have to see.  In a day and age where we are spoiled with the luxuries of modern life, air conditioning, microwaves, running water, cable television and internet access, imagine living in a structure that was made out of wood planks, had no insulation, no air conditioning, no heat and going to the bathroom meant walking outside to a nearby outhouse!  It was certainly a site to see and whether you see the trip as a walk down memory lane or a wakeup call to how good you have it at home, you will grow to respect the way people lived back in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Another hike we took with the group was to Rainbow Falls and the Devils Postpile.  Mother Nature does some amazing things and this certainly falls into that category.  You can spend at least half a day if not more in the area as there are plenty of hiking trails and things to see!

So whether you are planning to go mountain biking, hiking or sightseeing, there is plenty to do in the Mammoth area and I didn’t even cover everything!

Ryan Katsuyama          Pasadena, CA                                                  Summer 08

 Our family was in Mammoth a month ago for our annual summer vacation. What a great place. I wanted to share a surprise we came upon by accident. On our way back from Tioga Pass, where we had been hiking all day with the kids (at the junction of Tioga Pass and HWY395 just before Lee Vining) we pulled into to the Mobile Gas station for some gas and the kids were hunger and wanted a snack. Much to our surprise we came upon a fabulouse restaurant in the Mobile Mart Gas Station. The menu was extensive, the food was GREAT and the atmosphere was casual and very comfortable. There was indoor and outdoor seating. We sat outside and enjoyed the view and the kids got to run around on the grass. This is NOT your typical gas station, in fact it is far from it. Anyway, the place was packed obviously everyone else knew about this fantastic restaurant in the Mobile Mart . We also found out that they have live music on certain nights and as we had 4 days left of our vacation we decided to make the drive from Mammoth back to the Mobile Mart for diner the next night as the band would be playing. Well, it was worth the 30min drive from Mammoth to have great food (we think it is the best in Mammoth) , entertainment, a view and lots of room for the kids to run and play while my husband and I enjoyed a beautiful evening, wonderful food and great music. I'm getting ready to fix dinner at home and it reminded me of the wonderful experience we had at a gas station, the Mobile Mart Gas Station, and how I wished I could be there right now. I never would have guessed I'd be writing about a wonderful dining experience at a gas station, go figure. I guess small wonders never cease. If you go you will not be disappointed :)

Barbara Stanly (Los Angeles, CA)                                                    Summer 2008

Just wanted to share  my story about hiking poles. I love to hike  and Mammoth Mountain is one of my favorite places to hike. For years I saw people using hiking poles and I would think what a waste of money, and what a gimic. Well, I stand corrected. a friend of mine that came hiking with me on this particular trip insisted I try his poles. WOW! What a difference it make on our hike. I was sold on the poles. When we got bakc to the condo that evening I did some research on the web and figured out which poles I was going to check out. The next morning I stopped in at Kittridge sports and Footloose to see their selections and prices. Well, I ended up buying Leki, Antishock Summit Makalu. The Leki  came with a CD which was great and explaned the history of the use of poles,and how to correctly use the poles. I could hardly waite to try my new poles out. Later that day I went on a hike which was fantastic as expected,the fall colors  everywhere and the cooler temperatures and my new poles that made my hike even more enjoyable then before and a lot easier on my knees. All I can say is if you have never tried hikng with poles use should consider it. Leki poles are the way to go for me.

Dave Brickenwood, San Diego , CA

My experience with horse back riding in the high Sierras has been McGee Creek. It started off with taking my family on a 6 hour horseback ride. We rode through some beautiful meadows along side a rushing creek that one could easy fish for trout. Stopping to pick huckleberries along the way that were so good I wish I had collected enough for a pie. I found my self back in the saddle again at which time my rear had begin to grow more sore than one can describe. With my sore saddle  and a belly full of berries riding up switch backs at a 45degree angle on granite I was experiencing the hooves of my sure footed donkey slipping and sliding from time to time as we approached the summit of our ascent to the half way point of our ride. Reaching the top my vision exploded with turquoise blue water, green pines trees and cobalt blue sky. It was time to have lunch and try our luck at trout fishing in the lake. The golden trout were 6 -14inches long and refused to bite at anything on my line although they were happy to eat any of the bread crumbs that my daughters were throwing to them. Experiencing the wonderful views that the horseback ride had to offer, our guide herded us off to our horses to descend back down the mountain, finding us on the same trail being equally as exhilarated back down the switch backs next to the rushing creeks of melting snow water. We were soon back at the pack station but finding it difficult to get off my mule as my legs appeared to be permanently affixed to the saddle.  Finally I was off and needed to site on a log for 30 minutes to regain my land legs I strongly suggest for anyone else who is a novice at horse back riding to take the two hour horse back ride at McGee Creek. or if your dare do as I and go for the 6 hour experience , I remember it fondly.   Douglas Fried           Thousand Oaks ,CA                     Summer 2008